Louis Nel

Louis Nel lives at the coast in Kalk Bay. He is a surfer. He paints the sea and the forest in different pigments, tones, tides and seasons. He titles his work according to the date of completion. Every exhibition becomes a painter diary.

Our contemporary world consists of technological creations and instant solutions to problems.

In contrast to this oil painting is a classical and time consuming medium- it requires skill and patience. I believe in the relationship/correlation between value and the passing of time. Every single square cm of these canvases has been touched by the artist’s hand. The works are original, individual and not machine made. Each piece can be linked to a specific date.

On another level I regard Louis’s work as Romantic. His paintings are a revival of romantic ideas in a world where rational thinking, technology and machines are ruling. Romanticism emphasizes emotion, individualism and the glorification of nature as well as the past.

These oils are not rational scientific depictions of nature, but intense emotional experiences embodied in seascapes. The Romantic Movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of the aesthetic experience. Louis landscapes portray the uncontrollable, unpredictable power of nature as an alternative to the ordered world in which we find ourselves.